Exploration on medication patterns of “External Treatment” in the ancient Chinese medical book Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang

Background:To obtain the medication patterns of“External Treatment”by analyzing the prescriptions for the“External Treatment”in a Chinese ancient book called Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang(Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions,written by Liu Juanzi in 499 C.E.).Methods:The prescriptions for“External Treatment”and primary traditional Chinese medicines in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions were analyzed using data mining methods,such as frequency analysis and cluster analysis,after screening for prescriptions related to“External Treatment”in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions.The Database of Prescriptions for External Treatment in Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang was then established.Results:The earliest Chinese characters for“Yin”and“Yang”were found on“oracle bones”.These bones were the skeletal remains of different animals,and were used in ancient Chinese divination practices going all the way back to the 14th century B.C.Simply put,“Yin”is the cold and“Yang”is the warm.In traditional Chinese medicine,this concept of dualism and its fundamental principle underlie physiology,pathology,and the treatment of illnesses.The“External Treatment”discussed in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions primarily adopts the methods of“Warming Yang”,“Cooling Heat(Yang)”,and“Qu Xie(dispelling pathogenic factors of epidemic diseases)”,as well as“Huo Xue(promoting blood circulation)and promoting tissue regeneration.In Chinese medicine,“Si Qi(cold as winter,cool as autumn,warm as spring,hot as summer)”,“Wu Wei(five flavors:sweet,pungent,salty,sour,and bitter)”used to describe the properties of herbs.In Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions,most of the medicines used were more“Sweet”,“Pungent”,“Warm”,and the“Channel Tropism”were primarily distribute to the“Liver”,“Heart”,“Stomach”,and“Large intestine meridian”.Conclusion:The data mining method systematically summarized the medication characteristics of the prescriptions for“External Treatment”in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions.The characteristics of the“External Treatment”in this book include“supporting healthy Qi”and“promoting Qi and Blood circulation”which as the top priority,applying both“Attacking and Supplementing methods”as the focus,and combining“Supplementing methods”with“Elimination methods”.It has provided theoretical guidance in“External Treatment”for surgery of traditional Chinese medicine.